The Testament of Ann Lee (soundtrack)

The Testament of Ann Lee (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2025 film The Testament of Ann Lee directed by Mona Fastvold, starring Amanda Seyfried. The soundtrack featured original score composed by Daniel Blumberg and also several musical numbers performed by the cast mumbers, including three original songs written by Blumberg himself. The soundtrack is inspired by original Shaker hymns. It was released through Milan Records on 16 January 2026.

Composer Daniel Blumberg, who worked with Fastvold in The World to Come (2020) scored music for The Testament of Ann Lee.^[3] He joined the project after completing the mixing of the score for The Brutalist (2024), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Original Score, and was involved from the pre-production stage itself. Though having no idea about Shakers' music, Blumberg who read the script found it intrigued and had connected with the avant-garde improvisational singers Phil Minton, Maggie Nicols and Shelley Hirsch, while also being influenced by the Shaker hymns to write the score.^[4]

While keeping with the 18th century setting in mind, Blumberg used body sounds and bells but also incorporated contemporary sounds like the use of distorted electric guitars, which heard when an eclipse took place during one sermon, pushing the boundaries to an extreme level. Blumberg wrote around 100 minutes of score for the film.^[5][6]

Blumberg discussed with Fastvold, cinematographer William Rexer, choreographer Celia Rowlson-Hall, and sound designers along with the rest of the crew to discuss about the original musical numbers for the film.^[7] The songs in the script, were temporary placeholders where it occurs from natural and instrumental sounds, but had to discuss with the team so that the choreography, music and onscreen should be in sync with the rhythm and grow together except being an individual entity. Except for Seyfried, none of the actors had done a musical, hence, Blumberg found it an experimental process in all senses.^[5]

Blumberg oversaw the singing and live recorded them with the actors.^[8] He compiled the studio recording and live singing at Airbnb near the Budapest studio and for the chorus part, he taught some of the Hungarian extras to perform the choir in English, to be more authentic. He also wrote a couple of original songs with Fastvold. The original song "Clothed by the Sun" was written as a last-minute addition, and recorded a demo with his own vocals and guitar.^[9][7] Afterwards, he also recorded the song with Seyfried as a duet. Seyfried sang few of them in the most uninhibited manner, as much of them were animal sounds instead of melodic sounds, and felt she did not have to sound beautiful in a way which was beautiful to her, while the singing was more like a woman on her knees.^[10]

The soundtrack details were released on 15 December 2025, featuring 78 minutes of original music, including Blumberg's score, the adapted Shaker hymns performed by the cast members and musical numbers.^[11] The album was released on 16 January 2026 through Milan Records and Sony Masterworks in the United States and Mute Records globally.^[12] Two songs—"Clothed by the Sun" and "Hunger and Thirst"—preceded the album as singles, released on 2 and 16 December, respectively.^[1][2]

Guy Lodge of Variety wrote that Blumberg had "artfully adapted [the songs] from old Shaker spirituals, embedded in a changeable, exhilarating soundscape of discordant strings, tingly metallic percussion and shrill choral wave."^[13] David Ehrlich of IndieWire wrote "Oscar-winning composer Daniel Blumberg transfigures a dozen traditional hymns into propulsive and electrifying choral jams that thrum with biblical fervor".^[14] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Blumberg effectively adapted Shaker hymns, while he also noted that "the chiming notes of Blumberg’s score effectively introduces non-period electronic elements."^[15]

Wendy Ide of Screen International, however said that, "unlike something like Emilia Perez, its musical numbers lack the range, variety and toe-tapping immediacy required to sear a song into the audience’s consciousness."^[16] Radhika Seth of Vogue called it "goosebump-inducing".^[17] Tori Brazier of Metro wrote "Daniel Blumberg – who won the Oscar for The Brutalist – has composed haunting and gorgeous melodies that are enough to put you into some sort of euphoric trance [...] The music is also near-continuous, propelling the film and giving it so much of its power".^[18] Bilge Ebiri of Vulture wrote "The music, much of it consisting of Shaker spirituals rearranged by Daniel Blumberg is lyrical, emotional, sometimes even angry."^[19]

All tracks are produced by Daniel Blumberg.

Notes

• "Beautiful Tresures" and "Beautiful Treasures Funeral" are rearrangements of the traditional Shaker hymn "O, the Beautiful Treasures".
• "I Never Did Believe", "All Is Summer", "Bow Down O Zion" and "Stone Prison" are rearrangements of the traditional Shaker hymns of the same names.
• "Hunger and Thirst" is a rearrangement of the traditional Shaker hymn "I Hunger and Thirst".
• "Today Today" is a rearrangement of the traditional Shaker hymn "Today, Today Is My Own Time".
• "I Love Mother (Pretty Mother's Home)" is a rearrangement of the traditional Shaker hymns "I Love Mother, I Love Her Way" and "Pretty Mother's Home".
• "Down to the Deep" is a rearrangement of the traditional Shaker hymn "Down to the Deep and Rolling River".